7 On Your Side: Consumer Reports has laundry tips for black and white clothing

Everyone can use laundry tips, especially for clothes that are black and white.

Those are two of the most popular colors, they're but particularly tough to keep looking good.

Many times when you don't wash them right, black clothing can fade and white can turn grey or yellowish. 7 On Your Side's Michael Finney partnered up with Consumer Reports for some laundry tips.

Black and white clothing is classic and stylish. But black dyes can fade if you're not careful. And whites can turn dingy and gray.

To keep your black clothes looking their darkest, only wash them when you have to, says Consumer Reports' Pat Slaven.

"And when you do wash them, wash them with dark clothes of similar fabric. Turn them inside out and use the short cycle," Slaven said.

Using cold water helps keep the fibers from losing their color. And never put black clothes in the dryer. Banging about with other clothes roughs up the surface of the fibers, creating a halo of fuzz that catches light and actually makes them look lighter.

Instead, keep them inside out and hang the clothes to dry. Lastly, never dry black clothing in the sun. When it comes to white clothes, one big culprit is graying, soil from dirty clothes transferring in the washing machine.

To avoid that, use the right amount of detergent. Mark the fill line on the cap to take out the guesswork. Wash your white clothes separately.

"Only use chlorine bleach on 100 percent cotton. It can damage stretch fabric and other delicate items," Slaven said.

For fabric blends or anything with spandex, instead of bleach, add an oxygen cleaner like OxiClean or a

generic.

And don't underestimate the bleaching power of the sun. To demonstrate, Consumer Reports blobbed mustard on a white skirt, treated the stain with dish soap and water, then left it in the sun to dry and whiten.

One other complaint about white clothes is that they turn yellow. Consumer Reports says try soaking the clothes overnight in a mixture of warm water and an oxygen cleaner, then launder as usual.

Consumer Reports is published by Consumers Union. Both Consumer Reports and Consumers Union are not-for-profit organizations that accept no advertising. Neither has any commercial relationship with any advertiser or sponsor on this site.

(All Consumer Reports Material Copyright 2014. Consumers Union of U.S. Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)